NEW DELHI: The first set of Nokia featurephones - Nokia 150 and Nokia 150 Dual SIM - from HMD Global's stable will be rolled out in India, besides other markets of Europe, West Asia and Africa in the first quarter of 2017. The phones could be priced at less than Rs 2,000.

Espoo, Finland-based HMD Global, which bought out Microsoft Corp’s featurephone business alongwith contract manufacturer Foxconn for $350 million this month, started with featurephones, or basic phones, on Tuesday, but will launch Nokia branded smartphones by June.

“HMD will bring a new generation of mobile phones to consumers through an existing feature phone business and new smartphone range,” the company said in a statement.

The two new models will beef up the existing Nokia feature phone portfolio, which comprises Nokia 105, Nokia 216 and Nokia 230 to further strengthen its portfolio.

"Nokia has always had an emotional appeal, so it won’t be difficult for them to return, more so with featurephones,” said Jaipal Singh, analyst at IDC India.

The demand for featurephones still continues in markets like India. But, at a time when Reliance Jio is coming out with 4G featurpehones, should Nokia only focus on 2G featurephones, is something they will have to find an answer to," Singh said.

The new phones costing about $26 (Rs 1,750) address a large global populace, specifically in markets like India and Africa, where featurephone users make up the bulk of the entire mobile phone user base, although the market is constantly shrinking.

In India, 65% of the country’s 1 billion plus mobile phone users are still using featurephones, as per Counterpoint Research, while in Africa, the featurephone penetration is as high as 70%, as per data from telecom operator Orange.

On the other hand, smartphone shipments in India grew 11% to 32.3 million units in the quarter to September, as per IDC,while overall mobile phone market (smartphone and feature phones) shipment closed at 72.3 million units in the quarter, up 18.1%.

HMD Global, which has a brand licensing agreement with Nokia for mobile phones and tablets, highlighted that the phones feature a ‘familiar’ user interface, which suggests that the phones might resemble their predecessors to a lot of extent.

The devices have a 1020 mAh battery that can last up to 22 hours with talk time, and 31 days at standby (single SIM). The phones also have 2.4-inch screens and are equipped with a VGA camera with LED flash.

The company will rely on Nokia’s massive and deep brand equity to sell devices in markets like India, where the product line up will be available on ecommerce platforms and in brick-and-mortar stores, including Nokia branded retail stores.

HMD Global CEO Arto Nummela had told ET earlier this month that India will play a critical role in Nokia's “next phase of journey” while the brand will compete fiercely in the global smartphone market, currently dominated by Samsung and Apple.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.